Beatitudes, Not Platitudes

Dr. Paul Louis Metzger is the founder and director of the Institute for Cultural Engagement: New Wine, New Wineskins, and Professor of Christian Theology and Theology of Culture at Multnomah University and Seminary. Dr. Metzger is also the editor of New Wine's journal Cultural Encounters: A Journal for the Theology of Culture. Integrating theology and spirituality with cultural sensitivity stands at the center of Dr. Metzger's ministry vision. He and his wife, Mariko, a native of Japan, have been active in intercultural ministry in churches in the United States, Japan, and England.


Dr. Metzger is the author of Beatitudes, Not Platitudes: Jesus' Invitation to the Good Life (Cascade, 2018); Evangelical Zen: A Christian's Spiritual Travels With a Buddhist Friend (2015); Connecting Christ: How to Discuss Jesus in a World of Diverse Paths (2012); New Wine Tastings: Theological Essays of Cultural Engagement (Cascade, 2011); The Gospel of John: When Love Comes to Town (2010); Exploring Ecclesiology: An Evangelical and Ecumenical Introduction (co-authored with Brad Harper; 2009); Consuming Jesus: Beyond Race and Class Divisions in a Consumer Church (2007); and The Word of Christ and the World of Culture: Sacred and Secular through the Theology of Karl Barth (2003). He is co-editor of A World for All?: Global Civil Society in Political Theory and Trinitarian Theology (co-edited with William F. Storrar and Peter J. Casarella; 2011); and editor of Trinitarian Soundings in Systematic Theology (2005). Dr. Metzger is a member of the Center of Theological Inquiry, Princeton, New Jersey, and Senior Mission Scholar in Residence, Spring 2018, at the Overseas Ministries Study Center, New Haven, Connecticut. The Metzgers have two children and one grandchild. He has a keen interest in the art of Katsushika Hokusai and Georges Rouault, the writings of John Steinbeck, and the music of Johnny Cash, The Doors, and Nirvana. Dr. Metzger blogs frequently at "Uncommon God, Common Good." Dr. Metzger's present research projects include a forthcoming volume on social ethics inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s personalist philosophy and public theology, most notably Dr. King's prophetic critique of the Vietnam War.